Chapter 27...Downspouts And Paint Colors

Off Grid...Chapter 27 Good morning everyone. I know some of you have been waiting for a story. I've just been waiting for this week to be over. Here is our story for the week of September 8(I can't believe it's already September). Monday 9-8 We got our first propane delivery today. We got a total of 805 gallons. Oh yeah, can't wait to get that bill. At least we won't need a re-fill for quite some time. Today Mike and I installed both of the downspouts for our gutters. Here is one downspout connected to our gutter. We dug out a small ditch below the downspout so the rain water will run away from the house and not make a puddle in front of the patio door. Eventually we will connect the downspout to our existing drain pipes that run along the sides of the house. Mike made all the curves in our downspouts. Later that day Nicole showed up with more paint samples. We went down to the house and painted her colors on the living room wall. We have quite the collection! Now we have to wait until it all dries and see which color grows on us. Jimmy, our grader also showed up. Mike talked to him about installing our water tank and also getting the concrete for our retaining wall. That will be a fun day, lol. While they were talking my favorite calf, 98, came over to the fence. Nicole, Niki and I went to see him. Niki got a little excited and ran through the fence. Needless to say 98 kicked her because she was behind his leg. Thankfully she was OK and it was a good learning lesson for her. I don't think she will do that again. Tuesday- Now the real fun begins. We have to finish all the spackling and sanding this week. We have a system. Mike is doing all the spackling and I am doing all of the sanding. He has to make sure every wall and seam in the house gets 3 coats and I am sanding each coat behind him. I had to dig out my hat because when I sand I end up completely covered in spackle dust. Neither one of these jobs is fun or exciting but we have to get through it. By the time we take a break Mike's arm is usually ready to fall off and I look like "pig pen" except I have a white cloud surrounding me instead of dirt. Niki is also full of spackle dust because, of course, she has to be right next to me making sure I do a good job. 98 has been coming to the fence each morning, sticks his head through, and moos until Niki and I come out. Nike is OK with him and definitely more cautious. I'm glad she's not terrified of him after getting kicked. Wednesday- We ran out of spackle so we had to go into town. We picked up another 5 gallon bucket and also got 20 gallons of diesel. It's been a combination of hot and cloudy here this week. We needed more diesel for the motorhome to run the generator for the A/C. I can't wait to be in the house. The temperature is so much more consistent and it is never "hot". We got back home and went back down to the house and quietly started working again. Every night we have to clear away all the dust and Mike and I both have to use the netie pot and bottle. Do you all know what a netie pot is? It looks like a little tea pot and it is used to clear up your nasal passages. It's great for sinus problems. Anyway you fill the pot with @8oz of a warm saline solution, lean over the sink, tilt your head sideways, and pour the solution into one side of your nose. The water will come out the other side and clear you out. It all sounds great but some of us can't use this, like me. It feels like I'm drowning. Lucky for me the company also makes a squirt bottle with the same principle. You fill the bottle, lean over the sink, tilt your head forward(ah much better), squirt it into on side, and it comes out the other side. It's much easier and faster. NeilMed Pharmaceuticals, Makers of Sinus Rinse, NasaFlo Netipot, Nasal Irrigation OK enough of the fun stuff. Thursday- It's back down th the house to do the same old, same old. Nothing new there. Later on we went to our other property to mow. We now have more mowing because Frank finished haying for the year. Now we have to mow more or it will look really bad. At least we don't have to do this for long. Friday- This morning the gas company showed up to check all of our lines. Mike called them because he realized we had a leak. They fixed everything and now we are ready to be hooked up as soon as all of our appliances are in. I woke up with a horrible toothache this morning, and all night. I tried calling a dentist that I used years ago. Just my luck they are closed on Fridays. Oh well time to get out the anbesol. I really need to find another dentist locally. That's a scary thought. I love our town but some businesses are not very progressive. I'm afraid of walking into the dentist office and having them hand me a cup of water, sliding the basin over to me, tell me to swish and spit. Remember the old days before they invented the "sucking and water squirting tubes"?. Anyway that's what scares me. I'll just have to check out their equipment before I go in. Mike and I went back to sanding and spackling the walls. Mike ended up cutting his finger with the razor blade. Being stubborn like he is he wrapped it in a paper towel and kept working. At the same time I am slowly sanding away the insides of my fingers. So now we are both trying not to bleed on the walls, lol. We're a pair. We even get hurt together. Saturday- I got a short break from the house because I had to go grocery shopping. I also had to get "another" 5 gallon bucket of spackle. After I got home and made breakfast we went back down to the house to work. We are kind of in a zombie determination mode. We just go down to the house and keep working on the walls. Nothing new there. Sunday- We are at it again but today we see the light at the light at the end of the tunnel. Mike has finished putting all 3 coats of spackle on the walls ans he is now cleaning everything up. He used a total of 22 gallons of spackle. Almost done I only have the bathroom left to do the final sanding on, yeah! All the walls now have a nice smooth finish and my hands are raw, ouch. This whole process took us much longer than I thought it would. Now I know why people do a textured finish on sheet rock. It is much easier, faster, and probably cheaper because it's a lot less labor intensive. Mike and I made more work for ourselves by choosing to do a fine smooth finish on our walls. But for 2 amateurs I think we did great and I know we will be happy with the outcome. If we ever build another house we will hire someone to do the "finish" work on the sheet rock. We chose our paint color. It's the big swatch on the right and it's called Asiago. We are now moving along. I will finish sanding the bathroom and then we will clean the house by blowing it out and vacuuming. Mike ordered the flooring. This week we will paint, next week the flooring will be installed, and then we can have the appliances delivered. Yikes, we still have no bathroom vanity and no furniture. Just another week in the Mike and Lisa world. We hope you are all enjoying. Have a great day. Lisa and Mike